• Question: have you ever undergone a procedure where you've had some of your stem cells taken out if not then don't you think it seems a bit hypocritical to ask others to do so for your research?

    Asked by al95 to Anzy, Aoife, Dave, Matt, Tomasz on 12 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Matthew Tomlinson

      Matthew Tomlinson answered on 12 Nov 2013:

      Hi al95

      That’s an interesting ethical question. All the tissue we get comes from people who are having a surgical procedure, in my case wisdom tooth removal because the tooth is not growing through properly. The patients are asked whether they are happy for the removed tissue to be used for research and if they are not it gets thrown away. We don’t ask for people’s teeth or bone marrow if there is no need medical need for it to be removed.

      Personally I’ve not undergone a bone marrow harvest myself, but I’m on the Anthony Nolan register and in 2011 I was called up to donate, sadly the patient was never well enough to receive the transplant but I had had all the tests and was ready to donate. I have undergone a bone graft operation where some bone was taken from my hip and put into my wrist so I have an idea of what stem cell harvest is like.

      Patient safety is something that is a very high priority for us and ethics is a hugely important aspect of research.

      Thanks for the question!

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